Medical diagnostic ultrasound imaging systems often have a user interface with several different types of user interface elements (e.g., buttons or knobs) that affect one or more functions of the ultrasound system (e.g., gain). While buttons can have text printed on their face to describe their function, knobs often do not because text printed on the face of the knob would be difficult to read as the knob is rotated. Accordingly, many ultrasound system have text printed on a separate label or overlay adjacent to the knob on the user interface. In some systems, the text is back-lit to allow a user to read the text in a dim room, and the knob itself may be illuminated to assist the user in locating the knob. When a knob is associated with multiple functions, several adjacent labels can be used to describe each of these functions, and these labels can be selectively illuminated to provide an indication of which function is currently active. Under some lighting conditions (especially if the text is lit and the knob is not lit), the text adjacent the knob may not be easily discerned due to the proximity of the text to the knob.
The present invention is defined by the following claims, and nothing in this section should be taken as a limitation on those claims.
By way of introduction, the preferred embodiments described below provide a medical diagnostic ultrasound imaging system with a rotatable user interface element having a non-rotatable indicator. In one preferred embodiment, a medical diagnostic ultrasound imaging system user interface is provided with a user interface element comprising a rotatable portion disposed around a non-rotatable portion that comprises an indicator identifying a function of the user interface element. With this preferred embodiment, the indicator does not rotate with rotation of the rotatable portion. In another preferred embodiment, a medical diagnostic ultrasound imaging system is provided with a user interface comprising a rotary input device comprising a rotatable shaft, an inner member disposed around and fixed with respect to the rotatable shaft, and an outer member disposed around the inner member and coupled with the rotatable shaft. The inner member comprises an indicator identifying a function of the rotary input device, and rotation of the outer member rotates the rotatable shaft of the rotary input device without rotating the inner member.
The preferred embodiments will now be described with reference to the attached drawings.